That’s about all you can see of the Crossed S on foot.” Sam waved his hand in an arc in the direction they’d just come.
“It’s very impressive.” Leaning on the rails, Rachel lifted her foot onto the lowest rung of the corral fence. “I wonder if my uncle’s ranch will look anything like this.”
Sam leaned his arms over the railing. “Maybe. Might even be bigger. Some Texans have huge spreads. Where did you say it was?”
“Near Amarillo.” Rachel rested her hands on the top rung of the corral and leaned her chin against them, watching two men saddle a horse whose eyes were covered with a red bandana. “What are they doing?”
“That mare is fresh off the prairie.” Sam flicked his finger toward the dark-brown horse. “Not broke yet.”
“Why do they cover his eyes? Seems like it would scare him.”
“Her. That’s a female.” Sam grinned. Her stomach lurched. He looked so much like Josh. “Actually, covering her eyes calms her down so the men can get her saddled easier.”
Josh walked out from behind the back of the barn. Rachel’s heart picked up its pace. She hadn’t seen him since the previous night’s dinner, and he’d been conspicuously absent at breakfast.
Her foot slid off the corral rung, and she straightened. Josh slipped through the rails on the opposite side of the corral and walked toward the horse, yanking on a pair of worn leather gloves. He looked up, and his gaze locked with hers. He stopped so fast the cowboy following right behind him stumbled to a halt, nearly slamming into his back.
“Hey, Josh, don’t haul back on the reins so fast,” the tall cowboy teased as he hurried by.
Josh’s dark brows narrowed into a straight line, and his lips pursed together. One hand reaching toward his well-worn Stetson, he gave her a curt nod then turned toward the saddled horse.
Rachel’s pulse kicked up another notch. Josh was still mad. Well, why shouldn’t he be? He’d done nothing but help her, and she all but betrayed him. If only she could go back and change things. In her evening prayers last night, she had felt God’s prompting to apologize, even though what happened hadn’t really been her fault. Still, she could have stopped it if she’d pressed Lou.
Josh hopped onto the back of the horse with the skill of one who had ridden all his life. The jittery animal froze when he landed in the saddle. With a quick flick of his wrist, one of the cowboys yanked the bandana off the horse’s eyes. The mare jerked her head, the whites of her eyes showing, nostrils flaring. She held all four legs stiff. Her skin quivered. She snorted twice then exploded.
The next instant, all four hooves were off the ground. Josh held a thick rope rein wrapped tight in each hand. Rachel wanted to scream, “Hold on to the saddle,” but couldn’t since her heart was lodged in her throat. The horse hit the ground with a loud thud, sending dust flying. Josh’s backside landed so hard against the mare’s back that his hat went sailing through the air.
Rachel raised a fist to her mouth. He was going to get killed before she had a chance to apologize. The mare arched her back and twisted, looking something like a pretzel Rachel had eaten at a Dodge City carnival. Josh flew through the air, just like his hat had done. Rachel gasped, clutching the corral railing with a white-knuckled grip. He landed hard, stirring up so much dust that it looked like a cloud of smoke. For a moment, he didn’t move.
The cowboys’ hee-haws and loud guffaws filled the air.
“C’mon, Josh, you gonna let that little filly best you?” a cowboy in a brown plaid shirt hollered. Two others chuckled, nudging each other with their elbows.
“Go on, Josh,” Sam yelled. “Show her what you’re made of.”
Rachel gasped and turned to him. “Don’t say that. He’s going to get himself killed.”
Sam blinked. “Josh lives for this. He loves working with horses.”
“I don’t care. He’s going to hurt himself. If you won’t stop him, I will.” Rachel bent down and stuck one foot in the corral. The bucking mare flashed by, almost tromping on Rachel’s toe. She lunged back, landing on her backside in the dirt.
Sam squatted beside her. “You can’t stop him. He’d die of embarrassment if you made a fuss in front of the men. Best you don’t cause him any more humiliation after last night. He’s still upset.” Sam gave her a tight-lipped smile and patted her arm. “He’ll come around soon. Josh likes to tease everyone, but he’s always had trouble being on the receiving end. Still, he can’t hold a grudge for long. It’s not in his nature.”
Rachel peeked up in time to see Josh knock the dirt off his denim pants and hop back onto the trembling horse. She shook her head at his foolishness. At least she didn’t have to sit there and watch him kill himself.
Sam offered her his hand and pulled her up. She left him at the rail, already engrossed in Josh’s next ride, and entered the barn. Stalls lined one side of the huge red building. The pungent aroma of wood, hay, and horses blended together, reminding Rachel of the livery stable back in Dodge. Several horses hung their heads over the door of their stall and nickered for handouts. With the double doors at both ends of the barn open, the warm sun shone in. Rachel moseyed along the stalls, stopping to pat each horse that stuck its head out looking for treats.
The last stall was empty, gate wide open. Rachel started to pass by but heard a tiny squeak. Curious, she peered inside. In the corner of the stall, nestled in the sweet-smelling hay, five small puppies growled and frolicked with one another. “Oh, how cute!” She knelt in the hay and picked up the runt, a fluffy golden ball of fur.
“Aren’t you a sweetie? Where’s your mama?” Rachel rubbed the puppy’s soft ear between her finger and thumb. “I bet Shane’s your daddy, huh?” She thought of the Staffords’ ornery sheepdog.
Leaning her head back against the rough barn wall, Rachel listened to the sweet puppy noises. Their yips and squeals reminded her of a family at play. She’d always wanted a big family, but her mother hadn’t been able to carry any of her other four children to term. The last baby had taken Rose Donovan’s life when Rachel was just twelve. Did Josh know how lucky he was to have a big, loving family? And this ranch—Rachel had only dreamed of ever living on a ranch. Did Josh appreciate his fine home?
She thought again of her uncle’s ranch. What would it be like to live there? Would her cousins be kind and accept her and Grandpa, or would they resent their presence? Anxiety twisted her stomach. As much as she wanted to live on a ranch, she had major reservations about going to her uncle’s, but it had been the only option available after her father was murdered. She closed her eyes. Prayer with her heavenly Father was the only thing that could soothe the anxiety twisting her insides.
“You never listen to me.” Rachel recognized Josh’s raised voice as he entered the barn.
“I do listen. I’m just not convinced it’s a good idea—or that it’s the right time.”
Rising to her knees, Rachel peeked through the slats of the stall. Josh was talking with Micah, who rested his hand on Josh’s shoulder. She wondered what to do. She didn’t want to eavesdrop but didn’t feel right intruding on their heated discussion.
“You know I’m the best wrangler on the ranch. Between the rustlers and Mother Nature, we never have enough good horses. We gotta have more and better stock.” She heard a smack and knew Josh had just whacked his hat against his leg. “’Sides, last time I was in town, I heard the army’s needing good horses, and they’re willing to pay top dollar.”
Rachel couldn’t see Josh’s face, but she felt sure he wasn’t smiling. Did his brother realize this was Josh’s dream—to raise horses?
“Yeah, I’ve heard that, too. But with things as dry as they are here most of the year, I’m not sure we have enough grass to support the stock we have now plus more horses. I’ll think on it and talk to Sam. Right now, though, we need to concentrate on checking out the new calves, and I need your help.”
“Micah.” One of the cowboys from the corral stood in the barn entrance. “Pete needs you to look at the cows in the south pasture. Seems there’s a problem.”
“Be right there, Doug. We’ll talk later about this idea of yours, Josh.” Micah turned and followed the cowboy outside.
“Yeah, sure,” Josh mumbled, “always later.”
Rachel ducked her head to peer below the stall rail and see what Josh was doing. He yanked on his gloves as he walked over to a large burlap bag filled with something. The overstuffed bag hung from the rafters by a thick rope. He balled his fists and threw a punch that sent the solid bag flying several feet. It drifted back toward him, and Josh hammered both fists into the defenseless object.
Any thoughts Rachel had of making her presence known quickly flew away, just like the dust particles scattering out of the bag with each punch of Josh’s fist. She eased back against the wall. The pup, cradled against her arm, slept upside down in blissful puppy-dog ignorance, pink belly showing between four sprawled stubby legs. Wouldn’t it be nice to have so few worries?
A shadow crossed Rachel’s feet just as she heard a hideous snarl. She looked into a mouthful of dingy, pointed yellow teeth. A huge, multicolored dog—or was it a wolf?—stood three feet away. Its black ears lay back against its thick mottled-gray head.
It growled, low and menacing. Rachel set the puppy on the ground and pulled her legs up to her chest. The dog closed its mouth for a second, sniffed at her pups, then snarled again.
At that moment, she didn’t care if Josh knew she’d been eavesdropping. She just wanted out of there. “Josh,” she whispered. Her voice squeaked. She licked her lips and cleared her throat. “Josh,” she called, louder this time.
The pounding on the bag instantly ceased.
“Josh.” She would have screamed if she weren’t afraid of upsetting the dog even more. She heard the thud of his boots as he walked toward her. His head appeared over the top of the stall, and his brows narrowed into a single line.
“What are you doing here?” he snarled almost as viciously as the dog.
Rachel squeezed her eyes together and swallowed the bile burning her throat. “Just hoping to live another hour.” She opened her eyes, and for a fleeting moment, she’d have sworn she saw a hint of amusement grace Josh’s nice lips.
“This is how we handle liars and deceivers. Feed them to the dogs.”
Rachel studied his face, hoping to see that cocky grin. He looked dead serious. “I never lied to you, Josh,” she whispered.
“Yeah, right. For two days you paraded in front of me dressed as a boy. You said your name was Lee.”
Rachel wrapped her arms around her knees and pressed her back against the barn. A splinter from the rough wall pierced her blouse, but she tried not to wince. She glanced at the dog. It stood there, eyeballing her, as if waiting for Josh’s orders to have her for dinner. The puppies whined and fidgeted, wanting to nurse.
“My middle name is Lee. It was my mother’s maiden name.” She gazed up at Josh, who peeled off his gloves and stepped through the stall gate.
“Settle down, Belle,” he said.
The ugly dog wagged her tail and edged over, leaning against his leg.
“Grandpa made me dress like a boy. He said it was for protection. He told me never to tell anyone the truth until we got to Texas.”
Josh winced, and she wondered what was going through his mind.
“He even made me cut my hair. It went all the way to my waist. Used to be so pretty.” She raised her hand and twisted a curl around her finger, wishing Josh could’ve seen her hair when it was long.
He reached out his hand. It smelled of sweat, leather, and horse. Eyeing the dog, she pressed her hand into his, and he pulled her up. Her palm tingled from his warm touch, and his nearness threatened her composure more than the snarling dog had.
He reached up, fingering the hair that hung just past her shoulders. Rachel couldn’t breathe. “It’s still pretty, even if it’s shorter than it used to be.” A smile tilted one side of his mouth, and his dimple winked at her. “I thought it looked too pretty for a boy, and I’d planned on having Grandma cut it when we got back.”
His winsome smile faded as his eyes darkened. “Why didn’t you trust me with the truth? I told you that you could.”
Rachel looked down at their feet. A thick layer of dust covered Josh’s boots and pants. How could she tell him of her run-ins with the ruthless men of Dodge? She’d never encouraged their advances, but because she had been one of the few unmarried women in town, they readily sought her out. It got so bad that she never left home after dark.
“Rachel?”
She closed her eyes. Josh had called her by her true name for the first time.
“Is it so hard to trust me? I know I’m just an ornery ol’ cowboy, but I tried to treat you kindly.” The pain in his voice stabbed like a knife twisting in Rachel’s stomach.
“I do trust you,” she whispered.
“You have a funny way of showing it.”
Tears burned her eyes, and she willed them to go away. They didn’t. Instead, they escaped and streamed down her cheeks. She didn’t want to hurt Josh. He’d been only kind to her. He’d even shared his hopes and dreams, though he thought her to be a boy at the time.
She felt Josh’s hand on her chin, lifting her head. She looked up and stared into his dark blue eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Things got out of hand. I never meant to embarrass you in front of your family. I’m so grateful that you rescued Grandpa and me. We might be dead right now if you hadn’t come along.”
Josh winced, and his lips tightened into a pale line. She wondered if he would accept her apology.
“Josh, I know you thought I was a boy when you shared your dreams with me.” He stiffened and looked off in the distance through the barn doors. Rachel laid her hand on his forearm. He glanced down at it then captured her gaze again. “I’ll never tell a soul. I promise. It meant a lot that you shared with me. And I do trust you—more than you’ll ever know.”
He studied her face as if searching for the truth. After a moment of intense scrutinizing, he exhaled heavily then lifted his hands and cupped her cheeks. With his thumb, he wiped away her tears. His mouth slowly tilted in that cocky grin she was quickly coming to love. “I’d be a liar if I didn’t tell you I much prefer this version of Lee to the scruffy one I found on the prairie.”
Josh leaned forward; his warm breath tickled her face. He studied her gaze as if waiting for her objection, and then he brushed a feather-soft kiss across her lips. Rachel heard wedding bells clanging.
“I forgive you, Rachel.” He grinned as he straightened. “I’m starved. Let’s go eat. That’s the lunch bell ringing.”